Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Hola Hermanos y Hermanas...

Hola familia! CRAZY NEWS! I am now an HERMANA misionera.

It is true- I am going to become a Spanish speaking sista! Pres switched me over last week, so this will be an interesting next 10 months in the mission field trying to teach myself espanol. I am definitely going to need the Lord's help on this one. I had a great new years! I did miss banging pots and pans at the stroke of midnight, but 10:30 sure felt good as I laid in bed! Ha ha.

So much has happened this past week, it's insane. All but one of our investigadores we were working with dropped off the face of the earth. It was kind of a bummer, but I know that there is a reason to everything, and that the Lord will always place others in our path for us to teach. It's so great, isn't it?! Sister Jones and I are really learning to rely on the ward for help, and also learning to rely on our tracting/finding abilities when it comes to teaching! That's the missionary life for ya!

Last night I had the coolest experience at the Visitors Center. Ah, I just love serving there, I'm really, really, really going to miss it when I have to leave, which I know is going to happen soon. So last night two ladies came in and I was up for a tour. They were both from a safe house where domestic violence victims stay. One was a member of the church, and the other was not. So I took them through God's Plan, and the spirit was so powerful! At the end I started teaching these ladies about the love that our Heavenly Father has for them and read from Mosiah 24, where the Lord helps Alma's people with their burdens by strengthening them so they can carry them through. I love that! He strengthens them as if those burdens aren't even there. It doesn't say he removes them completely, but he helps them to have the faith needed to get through all that these people are struggling with. I'm so grateful for that! Because if he did just remove everything, what would we ever learn?! Nothing. Anyway, so we started talking about that, and about the Savior and how through his Atonement we can overcome anything. Sometimes it's hard to see that when we're in the moment, but I promise you that every trial will pass, and we will look back and be grateful for the lessons we learned. So after that, I took them to the Christus statue, and they both were just in tears as all of us sisters sang "Be Still My Soul" from the hymn book. They loved it, and I just loved them. The minute they walked in the door I just knew I was going to connect with them because I felt so much love for them, even though I had never even met them. Anywho- so after all of us sisters sang for them, these two ladies started talking to me about their trials and how the one who wasn't a member of the church wrote a song a long time ago, after both her parents died when she was young, and then she sang it to me and signed it (because she knew sign language). It was the most beautiful, heart felt song I had ever heard. I couldn't believe she had written it. I felt like it was truly from the Lord, he gave her that song as a tender mercy to help her remember he was always there. It was so awesome! By the end of that tour, I couldn't help but feel so much gratitude and love for these ladies, what a blessing it was to meet them and to be edified and strengthened from their experiences. So great.

Me and Jean Ann, new convert!

Earlier this week Sister Jones and I were also able to meet with one of our recent converts who is just so awesome. We talked all about temples and how soon she will be able to go through the temple and be sealed to her husband and daughter (and her baby on the way!) It was such a powerful lesson and so spiritual for me. It really made me think about temples and how wonderful they are. Our temple here in Missouri will be done in a couple of months! I cannot wait to go through that! Anyway- her and her husband decided to set a date to work towards for when they will be able to be sealed. They decided sometimes around July or August. When they said that, I wanted to jump for joy because I will be able to go to their sealing!!!!!! AHHH, it's so cool to be there from the beginning of someones conversion and to see them come together as a family! How awesome right?! That's why the gospel is just so great!

So another cool story, after we had that appointment with our recent convert, they wanted to take us out to lunch. So we went to Dairy Queen and as we were sitting there, these 2 non-members that Sister Jones and I had taken through the Visitors Center a couple weeks ago walked in! I think I may have written about them but I can't remember. Anyway, when we met them at the Visitors Center they told us they really wanted to come to church, but never came. So when we saw them at Dairy Queen we went up and talked to the son, and turns out he was going back to school in Maine very soon, so we were able to get his information to send to missionaries in Maine to go teach him, and then he told us that his mom still really wanted to come to church. Man, that just never happens! Such a tender mercy from the Lord. There are no such things as coincidences.

Well everyone, I really best be going, but I hope that with this new year here that all of you will take the opportunity to set some spiritual goals. Think about where you are in your life and where you want to go. I can promise you that with the Lord's help you can go anywhere! Set goals to read the entire Book of Mormon, or to pray day and night. I promise you as a representative of Jesus Christ that you will see an added measure of the spirit in your home and feel God's love more abundantly as you do so. The gospel is here to make us happy, not to tie us down! It's so awesome! Drink every bit of it! I know this is Christ's true church and that the work I am called to do is of God. I am sad that time is going by so fast, but I'm happy I still have 10 months to work hard and to learn Spanish as well!! Ha ha, I love you all!